OBIE Awards Let the Sunshine Off-Broadway

The 2017 OBIE Awards let the sunshine on off-broadway last night with the 62nd annual Awards ceremony at New York City’s Webster Hall. Co-presented by the Village Voice and The American Theatre Wing, last night’s event was livestreamed via the OBIES’ Facebook page, FacebookLive.

There were several performances last night including a smashing finale of hit tune “Let the Sunshine In” honoring the 50th Anniversary of Hair, performed by Lea DeLaria, Obie Award-winner Daphne Rubin-Vega and Lena Hall.

Obies mural by Bradley Theodore. photo by Timmy Blupe

The OBIES recognize artists and productions in the Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theatre community for each theatrical year. The categories are informal and there are no advance nominees. The 2017 Obie Award judges panel for this season included Village Voice columnist and longtime Chair of the Obie Judges Michael Feingold; Obie and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar; Entertainment Weekly theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo; Obie-winning actor/singer Darius de Haas; Village Voice theater critic Miriam Felton Dansky; Obie-winning actress Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Obie-winning actress J. Smith Cameron.

As previously reported in SOCIALLY SPARKED NEWS, a special Lifetime Achievement Award went to Pullizer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (Indecent)

Best New American Theatre Work ($500 prize each)
Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard, Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova)
J.T. Rogers, Oslo (Lincoln Center Theater)

Playwriting
Christopher Chen, Caught (The Play Company at La MaMa)
Lynn Nottage, Sweat (The Public Theater)

Musical Theater
Itamar Moses (book) and David Yazbek (music & lyrics), The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company)

Directing
Arin Arbus, The Skin Of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience)
Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Death Of The Last Black Man In The Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre Company)
David Cromer, The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company)
Jack Cummings III, Picnic (Transport Group)
Rebecca Taichman, Indecent (Vineyard Theatre)

Ensemble
Bartlett Sher (director) and the cast of Oslo (Lincoln Center Theater) Michael Aronov, Anthony Azizi, Adam Dannheisser, Jennifer Ehle, Daniel Jenkins, Dariush Kashani, Jeb Kreager, Jefferson Mays, Christopher McHale, Daniel Oreskes, Angela Pierce, Henny Russell, Joseph Siravo, T. Ryder Smith

Lila Neugebauer (director) and the cast of The Wolves (The Playwrights Realm)
Kate Arrington, Mia Barron, Brenna Coates, Jenna Dioguardi, Samia Finnerty, Midori Francis, Lizzy Jutila, Sarah Mezzanotte, Tedra Millan, Lauren Patten, Susannah Perkins

Performance
Matthew Broderick, Evening At The Talk House (The New Group) and Shining City (Irish Repertory Theatre)
Bobby Cannavale, The Hairy Ape (Park Avenue Armory)
Kevin Geer, Sustained Excellence [in memoriam]
Kecia Lewis, Marie And Rosetta (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Skin Of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience)
Heather MacRae, Come Back, Little Sheba (Transport Group)< Amy Ryan, Love, Love, Love (Roundabout Theatre Company)
Pete Simpson, Sustained Excellence
Michael Urie, Homos, Or Everyone In America (Labyrinth Theater Company)

Design

Riccardo Hernandez, Sustained Excellence of Set Design
Dane Laffrey, Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume Design
Jared Mezzocchi, Projection Design, Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Ryan Rumery, Sustained Excellence of Sound Design
Scott Zielinski, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design

Special Citations
Anna Deavere Smith, Notes From The Field (Second Stage Theater)
Taylor Mac, A 24-Decade History Of Popular Music (St. Ann’s Warehouse)

Obie Grants ($4,000 prize each)
Irish Repertory Theatre
Pearl Theatre Company
The Playwrights Realm

The Ross Wetzsteon Award ($3,000 prize)
Theatre for a New Audience

Lifetime Achievement Award
Paula Vogel

Congratulations to all the OBIE Award winners. Let’s continue to support off-broadway and off-off-broadway theatre. – Abbe Sparks is #SOSPARKED @sosparkednews @asparks01